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'Perfect day' needed for anyone to beat Pagenaud in Indy 500

Another IndyCar driver will have to have a "perfect day" to stop Penske's Simon Pagenaud winning the Indianapolis 500, James Hinchcliffe believes

Championship leader Pagenaud started his second season with Penske seeking his first IndyCar victory for the powerhouse team, but has stamped his authority on 2016.

After finishing second in the first two races, Pagenaud has gone on a winning streak, with last Saturday's victory on the Indianapolis road course his third in a row.

With practice for the 100th running of the blue ribband race starting on Monday, Hinchcliffe believes it will take something special to stop Pagenaud, who leads the championship by 76 points amid his "incredible" run.

"I just think it's going to take someone else to have a perfect day," Hinchcliffe said.

"To win these races, you have to have mistake-free days, and he's had a couple of those in a row, starting from good positions.

"Good team, good car, you qualify well and you're up front, and if you executing you're going to be in contention.

"He's beatable, for sure. It's not like Formula 1 with the Mercedes team.

"This is a very attainable goal. It's fallen his way the last couple but racing is a fickle business and we'll see.

"Hopefully the tides turn a little bit in someone else's favour."

Hinchcliffe was third last Saturday, his best result since suffering major injuries in a practice crash on the Indianapolis oval on May 18 last year.

While he has crossed several key checkpoints since then, and tested at the Brickyard last month, the Canadian admits the result has added to his sense of closure about the accident.

"Honestly in my mind, yeah," Hinchcliffe said.

"For me, such a big part of it was just getting back into a racecar. So 99 per cent of that for me was done back in September [when he tested at Road America].

"To come back here and get back on the practice [was a milestone], and we've tested here obviously on the oval and we're going to be back on the oval [this week].

"But for me, it's over and done with. It's in the past.

"So far, the present is working out pretty well."

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